APEC to maintain stimulus till recovery in place

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-07 19:30

SINGAPORE - APEC leaders will maintain hefty stimulus packages until they secure a "durable" recovery from the global economic slowdown, according to a draft communique obtained by AFP Friday.

"We will maintain our economic stimulus policies until a durable economic recovery is secured," the draft said, stressing that "economic recovery is not yet on a solid footing".

Leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, including the United States and China, will meet in Singapore on November 14-15 to discuss global economic recovery, environmental issues and free trade.

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The administration of US President Barack Obama -- who will attend APEC -- implemented a 787-billion-dollar Recovery Act in February which the White House says has saved or created nearly 650,000 jobs, and likely more than a million.

And analysts say that massive stimulus packages rolled out by Asian governments played an important role in helping the region weather the downturn better than the United States or Europe.

The Asian packages totalled more than one trillion US dollars, according to a tally by Standard and Poor's, led by 585 billion dollars in spending by China.

The APEC summit's host, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said this week that winding down the stimulus packages to make way for growth led by the private sector should be managed carefully.

"How exactly it has to be phased out... and how you balance the risks of withdrawing too quickly and administering too much adrenalin, that is something which will have to be discussed by the finance ministers and the central banks and calibrated as we go along," he said.